Whether they are young or old, living in family units or on their own, nearly all people experiencing homelessness share a common bond: a need for housing they can afford. According to a 2001 survey by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the leading reason for homelessness was a lack of affordable housing.

There is a serious shortfall of housing that the poorest Indianapolis residents can afford. Indianapolis has an estimated 13,000 vacant rental units, many not currently affordable to those citizens with the lowest income. This shortfall directly contributes to their homelessness. According to the federal government, housing is affordable if it costs no more than 30 percent of a household's income. Those citizens with the lowest income often spend more than half of their meager incomes on housing. These people are most at risk of becoming homeless and often fall in and out of homelessness. About 22,000 low-income households in the Indianapolis area have “worst case” housing needs, primarily because they spend too much for housing. Eventually, many of them encounter financial crisis – and some of them become homeless.

In Indianapolis, the citizens with the lowest income are the only income group that faces a shortage of affordable housing. In 1998, the Indianapolis Housing Task Force recommended that the city address this shortfall by creating 12,500 rental units affordable to people at the bottom of the income scale. The Blueprint to End Homelessness outlines the city's plan to achieve this objective by 2012.

As part of the implementation of the Blueprint, a resource has been made available to those seeking information about available, affordable rental housing: www.IndianaHousingNow.org. Launched in April 2005, this database is a comprehensive housing listing and search service that is free to both property owners and those seeking housing information.